Stone Terrace Hotel is set on steep slope in an idyllic bay on Pag Island in Croatia. It is a beautiful island surrounded with crystal water but is on the other hand also known for its harsh winter windy conditions and is therefore only scarcely covered with greenery. The location itself is in a secluded bay near island’s main town and offers stunning views to open sea. Steep slope of the location offers more than seventy meters height difference but in touch with water it transforms in to beautiful, well-sheltered natural sandy beach.
The regulations in Croatia define a coastal hundred meter protected zone for housing so as a consequence the hotel is placed higher on the slope near the passing road thus protecting the intimacy of the secluded beach bellow. As the program areas of the hotel are pretty large it is designed as terraced topography gradually descending on the slope. The shape of the building is carefully following the shape of the slope in order to make the hotel even less visible. The concrete terraces are made with sand that is excavated on site and therefore blends the hotel with the slope some more. All the terraces have long jutting roofs that cast shadow on to the glass surfaces to reduce reflection and are ending with the greenery, which is much easier to maintain in the controlled environment. The greenery also serves as a wide natural fence enabling more privacy to the users.
As an answer to strong northern winter winds all the rooms are oriented towards the sea on the south. The result is a bit prolonged communications which then opens up in a center of the hotel and forms an attractive vertical hall. The hall is connecting all the public areas of the hotel that are placed on top of each other starting with the reception on the upper floor and ending with the infinity pool terrace bellow. As well as all the rooms also all public program areas have direct visual contact with the Mediterranean see and open terraces near by enabling quests to have the feeling of constant contact with surrounding nature.